The Elusive Chocolate Bunny

I grew up in a small town, and by small town I mean that we did not even have a Dairy Queen or a stoplight. My class was one of the larger classes. By graduation, we had 7 in our class. Easter was always about the class egg hunt. We would bring our brightly colored, hard-boiled eggs to school. The teacher would hide them, and we would hunt them. The person who found the most eggs would win the big, beautiful, chocolate bunny. I wanted that bunny. I mean I really, really wanted that bunny. It wasn't about the chocolate, although that was a plus, it was about winning. I wasn't athletically gifted (shocking, I know). Field days and track meets were always about trying to humiliate myself as little as possible. But an egg hunt, surely I could manage to succeed in that. My competitiveness would go into high gear. I would begin psyching myself up for the hunt weeks before the event. Every year I would tell myself that this would be the year in which I won the bunny. I would always be so close. Only an egg or 2 off from winning the big bunny. After the 5th grade egg hunt, I realized that the bunny would never be mine because next year there would be no egg hunt. Over the summer, my school decided to make 6th grade a part of elementary. This meant one more chance for the bunny. The day of the egg hunt came. I hunted my heart out while still trying to appear cool about it. After all, I was a 6th grader and 6th graders must appear cool. The eggs were counted. I DID IT!! I had the most eggs. Finally, the elusive chocolate bunny would be mine. Except for the fact that my teacher that year did not have a chocolate bunny as a prize. The bunny once again escaped my grasp. Oh, the childhood trauma that I have suffered.

Now that I am an adult, I realize that not only every Easter but also every day I have been given the greatest prize. Christ died and rose again so that I could have the prize of eternal life. That prize is a little better than a chocolate bunny. He is risen! Happy Easter.